September Profile:Rev Paul Website: www.djrevpaul.com Contact: Rev Paul Real Audio: Exclusive Mix for dallasdancemusic.com Real Audio: Exclusive Mix 2 for dallasdancemusic.com

How and when did you get started ?
I used to go to all my high school dances. I'd bring every record I owned, and beg the DJ's to let me spin. I would ask about every 10 minutes. Looking back, I was probably pretty annoying.

A week or two before the big Homecoming Dance of my sophomore year, I had gotten a copy of the brand new Ozzy album, "Bark At The Moon". Of course, I took it with me to the dance. I asked the DJ to play "Centre Of Eternity" for about three hours straight.

He finally breaks down and says he will play it if I promise I will dance. I said "Sure. Everyone will dance." He says "I don't care about everyone. I just want you to swear that *you* will dance." So I said "Yeah. No problem."

So he puts my song on and I am out there dancing, with my eyes closed, just totally into it, and I hear my friend Ruben yell "Paul, open your eyes!". I look around and I am the only person on the floor.

I started to walk off and then I looked up at the DJ. And he looks like he is going to kill me. And all I could think was "I promised…"

So I stood out there and danced by myself in front of my whole school. It remains the second most embarrassing thing I have ever done.

At the end of the night, I go to get my records, and he says "I don't know if you have the talent to be a great DJ, but you definitely have the balls. If you want to come work for me, you can start next weekend." So I became an actual working, paid DJ in tenth grade.

This guy, Andy, had been a club DJ for years. He took me under his wing and taught me how to structure sets, how to work a crowd, basically everything I needed to know. To this day, I'm just putting my spin on what he taught me.

My favorite story from those days is that once we started to play a record and then changed it because we didn't think the crowd would get it because it was too new. That record was Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean."

Who inspires you musically and why?
My biggest hero in life is Buddy Holly. He just did it so well. He came in and left this completely unique, timeless, diverse, flawless body of work. He just defined himself through his music. You know exactly who this guy was by the work he did. Plus, no one that met him has a single bad thing to say about him. All in all, I'd say he left a pretty good example.

On Thanksgiving of last year, I was working at Kempi's and miserable, playing stuff I hated to try and please the 20 or so people who still went there. I went to an Umpday and Alienswede gave me one of his CD's. It told me to go do something that means something to me.

When RX spins Drum & Bass, he takes it to such another level that I have yet to see him and not leave a bit more spiritual. I hope to take people to where RX has taken me.

The Bass Pressure Radio hosts, Agent L and Prajna, remind me to make my sets funky, that's it's all about dancing after all.

(She said "inspires", not who my favorite DJ's are, or I would have had to mention Aqualight, Bryan C, D-Jabe, EP, Jobe, Juice, Squirt, St. Blaize, and Taki)

How much have you changed musically since you started?
In a lot of ways I haven't. I've always liked a lot of different sounds, just looked for what makes me want to move. I've always liked to mix genres, find great tracks from everywhere. Just looking for the records that make me make you want to dance…

Name two of your favorite tracks.
The Plump DJ's white label mix of "Higher State Of Consciousness" is still, so far, my favorite track of the year. The Hoodlum's AFO remix of Anne Savage's "Real Freaks" runs a close second.

What was your favorite event to play at? And why?
This was the toughest question to answer. I have so many that I have fond memories of that just picking one is damn near impossible. I kept coming back to this though.

There was one time when I got a little closer to mixing it exactly how I heard it in my head. And a few of the people there got what I was trying to say, and some of those people even danced.

So to answer your question, I guess my favorite event it the next one.

What's the best thing about DJ'ing?
DJ'ing keeps you young. By having an outlet to express yourself creatively, and because "work" is not the same thing day in and day out, and because you get to immediately see the results of your efforts-happy people dancing-you don't have time to age.

What do you think of the current state of the Dallas Scene?
It's amazing how much talent there is here. Mark my words, we will be considered as one of the major global centers of dance music in a very short time.

When is your next gig? Any residencies?
The club I have a residence at now is restructuring, so I am on a hiatus. So if anyone has open slots, give me a call! I will post future dates on my site, so check www.djrevpaul.com for confirmed dates. And of course, I will post them to D-Raves.

Do you want to thank anyone?
Yes. Long before there was any reason to, Betty believed in me. For ten years, she has been my best friend and supreme inspiration. The attention and accolades I am getting here are equally hers. (She's Electrawoman on the board, btw.)

Do you have anything else to add?
Go seek your spiritual side. Late last year, I started reading books with different ideas about what God is, different then the "you're inevitably going to hell" fire and brimstone that I was brought up with. And it has really opened up a different world for me. Go look for a different world, and see what opens up for you.

--Rev Paul
www.DJRevPaul.com
Member AI-Productions: www.AI-Productions.com